Anything but Minor - Kate Stewart Page 0,30

smeared it over my blistered mouth before I limped back into the kitchen to thank Rafe.

“Are you thirsty? What can I get you?”

“I think the question is what can I get you? You look liked you just sucked off an elephant!”

I quickly brought my hands to my lips and realized just how much lip balm I’d smeared on. Nervous laughter took over as I stood there, barely able to keep my legs planted.

Our laughing slowed as I grabbed a paper towel from the counter and began wiping at my lips.

“What happened out there?”

“It was like the dream that you went to school naked, you know? I dropped my paddle, and I was already in survival mode at that point. My brain was fried. I was headed for the dock, and then it just slipped into the water. When I reached for it, I saw the fin. It scared the crap out of me. I mean, I know these things dwell in the water, but I’m the type who is better off not actually seeing them. I grew up in Ohio. We don’t have sharks, alligators, and dolphins in Ohio. Anyway, I panicked, and when I looked up and was surrounded by people, I froze.”

“I get it,” he said as he started looking through my cupboards.

“What are you doing?”

“Some serious aftercare,” he said as he grabbed a Ziploc bag and shoved it under the ice dispenser. “Go lie on your bed.”

“Pardon?” I asked, my eyes wide.

“Alice, go lie on your bed.” His tone was commanding, and I found myself quickly doing what he said.

“Got anything with menthol in it? Vicks?”

“I have Icy Hot in my bathroom,” I called out as I lay on my bed, completely unsure of what to do. I thanked the Lord the sunblock I used had worked, and I wasn’t burning on the outside as much as I was on the inside. I’d gotten lost in the water, completely clueless on time. And I’d probably been dragged by the tide for miles through that marshland. It had been wonderful...until it had turned into a nightmare.

“Extra pillows?”

“In the closet,” I said as he walked into my room with several ice packs, Icy Hot, and several dry rags.

“Rafe,” I said, staring up at the ceiling, “thank you. That was humiliating, and it could have been so much worse. Thank God I didn’t pee.”

Rafe positioned several pillows underneath my arms and legs and set the rest of the supplies next to me on the bed. He handed me three Advil, which I swallowed with the cup he’d brought from my bathroom before he pushed me gently back to the bed. Before I could go on in my appreciation, his hands were on me.

I looked into his eyes as he massaged my shoulders first and began working his way down to my bicep. His huge frame towered over me as he sat beside me. He licked his perfect lips as golden colored eyes peered down at me. Every ounce of fight I had withered as he touched me.

“So what were you doing at the creek?” I asked, trying to ignore my hard nipples and the heat building at my center.

“Eating lunch with Andy.”

“Oh? Where was he?”

“He took off. I think he’s pissed at me for some reason and won’t come clean.”

“Well, ask him,” I said as he grinned down at me.

“I did, and he’s not happy about me hanging out with you, either.”

“Why not?” I said as my breath hitched when his hands began to massage my sides, drifting from one side of my stomach to the other.

“Because he thinks you’re too good for me. He thinks I’m shit for women.”

“Oh,” I said as I got lost in his hands. “Well, have faith, Rafe. If a fourteen-inch seahorse can be monogamous, I’m sure there’s hope for you.”

I gasped when his fingertips lingered just above the tip of my bottoms, and his fingers skirted just beneath the hem.

I looked up to see Rafe’s eyes smolder as my lips parted. His hands never stopped, but his brow quirked up slightly in question, and so I began rambling.

“Before it got terrible, I really lo...loved it.”

“Uh huh.”

“I didn’t do enough research, I guess,” I said as he massaged my right thigh with amazing skill and then concentrated on my left.

I kept my eyes fixed on his Adam’s apple as his hands seduced me into a puddle.

My eyes began to droop in both arousal and relaxation.

It was only when Rafe spoke that I opened them again.